The present invention relates to apparatus for the multiple bundling or wrapping of stacks of cuts, said apparatus comprising a plurality of side-by-side band stock wrapping units, an upstream feed pusher unit, an alignment table for receiving a ream of cuts to be individualized and banded, said ream arranged in a plurality of rows of stacks of cuts, and a move-away unit for moving the rows of stacks of cuts from the fed-in ream and for individualizing same.
Multiple bundlers of this kind, which are known e.g. by DE 26 27 610 A1, are used to cut up large-size printed sheets into individual stacks of cutsxe2x80x94post cards, labels, pocket calenders and similar itemsxe2x80x94by means of a guillotine-type cutter and to wrap band stock around each individual stack for the further processing thereof.
Multiple bundlers of this kind may be fed by means of feed pusher units of the type known e.g. by DE 298 04 929 U1. In a feed pusher unit of this kind the individual rows of stacks of cuts constituting the ream to be individualized are pushed stackwise from the ream at 90xc2x0 to the working direction and are then shifted another 90xc2x0 for movement to a multiple bundling station.
Swiss Patent 652,675 discloses a multiple bundler using a transverse blade to divide the reams of stacks of cuts. Following such division, the equally sized rows of stacks of cuts so formed are multiply wrapped and then separated to form individual stacks of cuts.
Finally, DE 195 02 535 A1 teaches a so-called bar-type bundler which separates a plurality of packs of cuts and bundles them to form a bar. To this end, the device picks up cuts placed in a planar side-by-side relationship and assembles them to form a bar for bundling.
It is the object of the present invention to simplify the operation of a multiple bundler and to obtain enhanced versatility in the processing of the reams of cuts.
This object is achieved by providing for a variable depth of the rows of stacks constituting a ream of cuts. Also, provisions can be included for moving the rows of stacks of cuts away sequentially and for individually wrapping the stacks of cuts constituting said moved-away rows.
The ream of cuts consists of rows of stacks of cuts in their cut-to-size condition, each stack having the same stacking depth and the same or a variable width; a machine for processing such reams includes provisions to arrange the feed pusher unit, the move-away unit and the bundling station in an straight-line relationship in a working direction.
In prior multiple bundlers it was necessary to place the cut-to-size stacks of cuts on a feed table and to advance them by means of a pusher member having the same width. For individualizing them, a transverse pusher would move each stack 90xc2x0 out of the path of movement to a bundling position from where another pusher would advance it on its desired path, this second pusher acting at another 90xc2x0 angle so as to forward the rows of stacks of cuts to the bundling station proper.
In the present invention, the ream, which are made up of cut-to-size stacks of cuts in a broad variety of row depths and stack widths, can be loaded and processed in a straight-line working direction. Angled paths of movement are avoided, and the feed or alignment table of the multiple bundling machine can be loaded directly from the upstream guillotine cutter.
The move-away unit is capable of detecting and moving a broad variety of row depths and stack widths in a ream of cuts. The number of stacks within each row of stacks can be variable, as can be the number of rows of stacks of cuts within a ream of cuts.
The inventive multiple bundling machine (in-line bundler) does not require personnel of its own as the bundling operation is readily controlled by the personnel operating the preceding machine, which regularly is a guillotine cutter.
Further advantageous measures are described in the dependent claims. The invention is shown in the attached drawing and will be described in greater detail herein below.